Cardinal Pell ready to meet with same-sex marriage proponents

January 04, 2011

Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia, has offered to meet with proponents of same-sex marriage, provided that they are willing to forego anti-Catholic rhetoric.

Responding to a request from Australian Marriage Equality a meeting, the cardinal said that he would be happy to consider a meeting with representatives of the group. He asked, however, for the group to give him some assurance that they “do not regard opposition to same-sex marriage in itself as a form of prejudice and discrimination, and that you are prepared to say this publicly.”

Cardinal Pell said that he did not expect a meeting to produce any agreement on the subject of same-sex marriage, but he hoped for a civil discussion. He said that the issue should be debated without resort to claims that the opponents of homosexual marriage are bigots.

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